House of The Rising Son
---- It is said that, "If you want to want to shine like the sun, first burn like the sun". Of course, everything comes at a price; fame, money, grandiose, everything has a price that one must pay. Nothing is free. For the five-year old, Higure, it meant losing his parents, family fortune and being separated from his elder sister but of course, like all great things, it had a silver lining. And as the sun, that had been too afraid to show its face in this world of madness, started to turn the black into grey; it taught everyone in this town, including Shin an important lesson. The sun always rises; even after the blackest night. It gave the kid a little hope. Arriving at the Onibus Town station, Shin took a glance out of the window of the train; with a deep sigh of simultaneous anxiety and chagrin, he got up and collected his backpack as he began walking out of his coach and finally landed on the platform. The young boy looked at Aldrich; his new legal guardian, in a rather melancholic way. "Are you sure Mr. Inari that I should just come along? I don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble in your life..." inquired the boy with his neon-color eyes slowing regaining their once lost glow; as he desperately tried to hold onto hope that everything would be okay from this point but that was not enough to convince his mind. Like the falling dried autumn leaves around him, his mind and soul began drowning in the black pits of darkness and despair. His mind began assessing the situations and no matter how many scenarios he ran through his advanced brain; the scenarios were never in his favor. Scared and anxious, the boy wanted to run away from this foreign country and just disappear from this cruel world. "Well yes of course I am sure. How am I supposed to look after you if we aren't together?" He laughs out as he ruffles the boy's hair. He does his best to put the boy at ease, but he himself feels of heavy heart and mind. He had just lost his friend, had been asked to leave his job as an agent of BCO-12, and has now been named as the guardian of this interesting boy. Flashbacks of the devastating event play back in his mind and cause his false smile to falter a bit, but he casts his gaze upwards to hide it from the boy. His mind raced with ways he can introduce this unique situation to his family, but nothing came to mind that would be smooth and lack dramatic flare. "Besides now you will get to meet one my daughters, Samarra. I just know you two will get along wonderfully." He said as he walks towards the man with "Inari" painted on the sign. Akio, the family's personal driver, was waiting patiently for Aldrich to exit the train car at the Crocus Station so that he could take them back to their residence. The driver was a bit stunned at the sight of Aldrich walking with a boy, and gave his boss a puzzled look before gracing him with a bow. Aldrich flashes a weak smile at his friend and says with a low tone, "Hello Akio, I would appreciate if we would refrain from the questions about Shin here with me. I would just like to head straight home if you don't mind?" The well groomed driver gives a head nod and a soft smile to his senior, adding a gracious, "Of course, Lord Inari." He escorts them to the magic vehicle, where the two tired travelers take seat in the back, and the driver hooks up the SE plug to fuel the car towards their destination. Despite wanting to believe Aldrich's words, Shin could sense the nervousness and angst that the Inari was feeling deep down. The sun shined a little too brighter in this town and it was comparatively a more humid; compared to his city. After a trice of silence, Shin gave a tight lipped fake smile; assuring Aldrich. "Yeah, I guess you are right!" Shin was momentarily distracted by the magic vehicle and the driver, he determined that 'Lord Inari' was not just merely another rich man but a man of integrity, excellence and most of all, people respected him. With a gasp, he got on board of the magic vehicle. Shin finally smiled as he was always fascinated both dynamics and kinematics; though, he was too young to fully understand them. The young boy could not help but stare at the SE plug; which fueled the car. He thought to himself, There must be a better way to power such a vehicle. How does the power system work anyway?. He looked at Aldrich and with some level of enthusiasm in his voice, he asked the man, "Why use a SE plug to move the the rotors and complete the power cycle of a four-stroke engine?" After a brief pause, the boy continued, "How does it work? And, why don't we use magical lacrimas to power these engines? I heard my father say that they make the four-stroke engine move but I don't fully understand how the SE plug works. Does it transmit magic directly to the engine and make it move or is it converted into something? Like a telekinetic effect? I have always asked my dad but he told me I was too young to understand that. I hear the windscreens are made of a few layers of normal glass. Dad once told me that you can make glasses smudge resistant by laminating them... I don't know how that works but sounds cool, no? Maybe they should just switch to multi-layered laminated glass reinforced that is with a basic transparent thermoplastic; I guess, that would be safer than just two layers of glass as a windshield. A spider's web is a lot better than having your entire windshield smashed in, right? I wish he was here to tell me more stuff...". Realizing that he may have spoken too much, he decided to stop and mumbled, "I didn't mean to be preachy, Mr. Inari. I just wanted to help" with his head facing towards the ground. He felt that he should have known better and to keep his mouth sealed. No matter how friendly or generous Lord Inari is, despite all his kind gestures, he is after all a stranger and he had no right to comment about his life or the dynamics of his car. Stupid Shin! Get a hold of yourself. But, man... they have a lot of cars in here and none of them seem to be efficient enough. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll end up becoming a car mechanic or something. It's not like I can ask Mr. Inari to send me to school. I cannot just live on his money---that doesn't feel right. Why is he helping me anyway? If he wanted, he could've let me die back in Agua but he didn't. I guess that's what makes him a great person. The way he talked about it, his daughter, Samarra is a lot like me. I guess, we'll become friends pretty soon or maybe she will hate me for 'pretending' to be a part of her family from this point on. You're a lot of things, Shin Higure but not a psychic...What am I even afraid of? My parents are dead. Who knows where my sister is and here I am, several thousand kilometers away from my home. Am I really that afraid of rejection? "No need to apologize my boy. Your ideas do make a lot of sense, I will have to suggest them to the maker." Aldrich says with a soft smile. His fingers tap nervously on the side of the door handle as he sees that they are only a few minutes away from the family grounds. He sighs as he turns to Shin. "I feel as if I should give a brief intro as to what you're walking into. I have a rather large family that lives on our own private grounds. You'll be staying with my family in the main house however. You'll get to meet my lovely wife Belinda, she is a kind spirit, just make sure you clean up after your messes." He laughs out at his wife's obsession with cleanliness. "My kids have grand personalities of their own. Hiro is my oldest son, he's a bit of...a character. I'll have you make your own assessment of him. Kalina is my youngest girl; she is a bit of a lone wolf and likes to do her own thing, but she is only 2 right now; can't imagine how independent she will be when she's older. Samarra is the middle child, but you couldn't tell by her personality. She is a kind, intelligent, and determined. A lot like you from what I've heard, so you'll like her I'm sure." "You are very kind, Mr. Inari. I'm really grateful for you're doing for me." Shin says with a genuine smile; as his ideas were finally noticed by someone. He turned to Aldrich as the Inari started talking. After hearing out the Inari, he cleared his throat and leaned into his seat. He was obviously nervous and curious at the same time. "So things clean, behave nicely and Ms. Inari wouldn't completely hate me. Hiro sounds like ... amusing, for the lack of words. Will stay out of his way. Kalina? She's two but already a lone wolf? I'll try to not annoy her too much." He laughs out. "Samarra sounds the most amicable type. I should try to be in her good books. Will do. That being said, anything that I probably should avoid saying while meeting your family? If there's anything I can do to lessen your burden, Mr. Inari, please let me know. I really am in your debt and I don't know if I can ever repay you for this..." "Please Shin, don't speak as if this as a debt to be settled. Your parents were wonderful people who entrusted me with keeping you safe. I didn't need a piece of paper to tell me to take on such a task; I would have done it out of the kindness of my heart, as well as the respect I held for my dear friend. You are anything but a burden." He says with an unwavering expression to show his seriousness in his words. His eyes quickly dart out the window as he sees them cross the walls of the Inari Family compound, the cars gradual slowing drawing his attention. As they pull up to the main courtyard, a path they must walk to reach the main house, Aldrich gives one last word of advice to Shin. "Don't avoid saying anything. Here we value honesty and integrity, so don't try and be anyone different from who you are. That's all the advice you'll need". Shin smiled looking at Aldrich as he admired artful, brilliant and courteous men like Aldrich and his father, Shinsei; he secretly wanted to become like them, when he grew up. He however did frown in the back of his mind, the pain of loss isn't something even a kid would get over that easily. "What would Kaseginin say? Ah, yes...his infamous lines 'The past can talk to the future... if the present has ears to hear and eyes to see with.' Never got what that meant but it sounded too cool to be anything too simple. Those lines and his handmade Goi cuon are the only things I remember of him but then again, I shouldn't feel bad for our family butler... should I? I can't tell anymore. I am sad, broken and I still can't think straight. I won't see my mom ever again. I won't listen to my dad's voice again. I will never be bullied by Shis, again... surprisingly, that hurts me. Why should it? She was a mean person yet I can't stop thinking of her. Is she alive? Did she make it? Why did my parents have to die? WHY? Now, I am going to meet people that I normally shouldn't have to. There is a big chance they won't like me. What do I do? What if they hate me? I DON'T KNOW! Why is life so mysterious?" Shin thought to himself as there was an internal storm; a storm that has been raging in since the moment he was attacked. All he wanted was his parents to come back to him. He wanted his old life back. His hands and feet began shaking in nervousness and fear of rejection as they got down. He silently followed Aldrich, trying to not make a scene. He responded to Aldrich's words with a single reply, "Understood" but that one world held a lot of meaning; it took him a lot of courage to say that one word. The two exit the vehicle, the door graciously held open by Akio, and they make their way up the gardened path. The houses themselves were of Edo period style, showing a sense of elegance and practicality. The garden they were walking through towards the main house, was the main distinguishing feature that separated this central building aside from the rather large scale of the construction when compared to the other surrounding homes. You could practically drink in the aromas of the year round blooms, and get lost in the chorus of the songbirds that called the nearby trees their home. The chorus of it's residents laughter could be heard from across the gated compound of sorts but quickly vanished as the two men entered the sliding door. There was little time to admire the interior of the home as a small little girl running towards them took the place of the scenic tour. "Dad, you're back!" The little girl shouts, her light brown hair swishing back and forth as she ran into the arms of her father. A sweet giggle could be heard as the girl was lifted up into the air, only to descend into a warm embrace with her father. "Samarra! How's my little girl doing?" Aldrich says with a smile across his face, holding her out to see her cheerful face. "Hey! I'm not little anymore! I'm almost 10!" Samarra huffs out, getting a hearty chuckle from her father. "She finally mastered that new lightning spell you taught her today during training, she was able to hit all the targets, which earned her an extra ball of mochi ice cream tonight for desert." A gentled face women said as she appeared around the corner, carrying a two year old on her hip. "Welcome home dear." The woman said as she walked up to Aldrich to give him a kiss on the cheek. She gets notice of the boy standing to the side of her husband and kneels down to get to eye level with him. "And who might you be?" She says with a bright smile, the kind that almost makes your eyes squint shut, showing the gentle and kind nature of her being. Shin absolutely loved the Inari House; it was one of the most, if not the most elegant and remarkable house that he had ever seen. He was in love with the beauty of the compound, the sweet aroma and it's unique architecture. "Uh, hello! My name is Shin, Shin Higure... pleasure to meet you, ma'am!" replied Shin nervously as he was mentally not prepared to be confronted by the woman of the house, herself; yet. He squinted his eyes nearly shut and he bowed before her, expressing his gratitude for letting him step inside their beautiful home. He smiled back at her and then looked back at Samarra. "Hello!" he exclaimed, waving his hand at her. "Here we go Shin... please don't mess this one up!" he thought. Samarra waves back as she pats Aldrich's arm to set her down. The girl bows before Shin as she politely says, "It's a pleasure to meet you Shin." She returns to her standing form and gives a bright smile to the new acquaintance. "Shin here is going to be staying with us for some time, I hope you all treat him as if he was one of our own. I apologize for my rudeness about this abrupt news, I assure you it was just as sudden upon my ears as well. I hope you can understand." Aldrich says with a hand behind scratching behind his head. He gets a questioning look from his wife, to whom he nods as if he will explain the circumstance to her later. "Don't worry Dad! I hope we can be friends Shin!" Samarra says towards the boy who is only a few years younger than her. "I'd expect nothing less of you my girl! Would you mind giving Shin the tour of the complex while I catch up with your mother here?" Aldirch says with a smile as he kneels to place two hands on Samarra's shoulders. Samarra nods her head and takes Shin's hand to whisk him out the door. With the boy ensue Samarra begins rambling on about the complex as they do a quick walk around the main house. The main house was located in the center of the complex, making it the ideal spot to see all the Inari Family had to offer. With her hand pointing every which way, the brown haired girl spoke in continuous strings, "There really isn't much to see here. Our house is a bit bigger then the other people around here because the family is involved in mining as well as politics, I've actually gotten to see the King once or twice! Anyways, over there you have the outer wall where you can find Daemon, our robo-guard on patrol. He's really nice, but don't tell him I said "robo", he hates that." She says through a whisper, followed by a slight giggle. "On the edge of the garden is the houses of the branch families, although I am not to sure why they were deemed such as there is no difference between us besides our jobs. The main house that we just came from is where my family stays, and I guess you now too. In the eastern corner you have storage supplies; weapons, scrolls, books, gadgets, basically a whole lot of random stuff. And then back here..." Samarra says opening her arms up wide as they turn a corner into a gated off sector. "is the training grounds! This is my favorite place, it has everything you could ever want to practice with. All our family members begin training at the age of 5, and then, when my dad deems the mage worthy; we get to have a special ceremony where we get to make a contract with a special fox of our own! It's really cool!" She huffs a bit, not realizing she was rambling on for so long, and she looks around in space hoping to grasp a detail she may have forgotten. "Hmm, that's pretty much all the important places you need to know, our customs and stuff aren't that different from any other noble family, and the rest you'll learn on your own! Any questions?" Despite the mention of magic, the thing that really fascinated Shin was the mention of 'robots' and 'gadgets'. His inner techie nerd came out and was honestly captivated by the opulence and prestige of the Inari family. "I have one! I am really not from a noble family. My family was wealthy and I think my mother was a politician; though, I don't really know what they do and my everyone from her family are like businessmen and my father was a great doctor. He was the best. So, do I not get a fox? Is there anything that one has to do to become noble? Oh! Oh! Can I see a few gadgets and meet this robo-guard person? Please, Ms. Samarra?" he questioned Samarra with the curiosity of a child. "At the age of 5? That is sooo cool! My dad told me he would teach me magic but not before my 7th birthday. I hated waiting... so since you're over 5, can you uh teach me... magic? I want to learn!" The way he uses the past tense...He lost his parents...So that's probably why dad brought him here. He is going to be with for more than 'some time' dad haha. Samarra thought to herself as she smiles at her new found friend. "Well being part of a noble family isn't much different, at least not for us kids. We just have to be nice and well mannered when we meet people, as we reprent ourselves as well as the family name. And I don't know if you get a fox..." Samarra says as she taps her chin with her index finger. With a smile she says, "That decision is up to my dad, since getting a fox is a recognition of your magic abilites, as well as a right of passage into being accepted by the family. And I can teach you what I know about magic, then after we can definitely go exploring through the storage area and find some cool gadgets!" She goes to set up some standing targets on tall wooden logs; she then goes to stand next to Shin once more. "The magic we specialize in our family is Lightning Magic. Once you have the ability to harness, channel, and release the ethernano that exists in the environment and inside us, it is really simple to perform magic of a given nature that you have an affinity for. Watch this!" Samarra says as she takes a stance with her her arm outstretched, aiming her palm towards the middle of the targets. She takes a deep breath in, closing her eyes, she opens them up with intense focus. "Raiton Arrows!" A yellow magic circle appears in front of her palm and multiple beams of concentrated lightning come out of the circle and spreads out to hit all targets within a matter of second, leaving a charred circle through the middle of these ceramic targets. "That was so amazing! Is it my turn yet?" he boy said in a passionate voice since he was spurred by Samarra's display of magic. "Lightning? So that's what I used that one time. Alright, that doesn't sound hard... how did I do that, again?" Shin thinks to himself, raising his hand and then moving them towards the target. "Uh---lightning!" he shouts but to his frustration nothing happened. He tried once again but this time with the eagerness of a true student saying, "Go lightning-bolt!" The kid was frustrated and honestly enraged by his repeated attempts that resulted in failure. "Work! Please!" he exclaimed throwing his hands to the ground as he subconsciously began harnessing and channeling ambient ethernano causing his entire body to be electrified; soon, his hands began discharging electrical sparks. "Yipee! I did it!" he stated out of happiness but as he tried fire a bolt at the ceramic target, the electrical discharges became unstable and triggered a self-contained miniature explosion; literally exploding in his face, leaving a faded smoke behind. As the smoke cleared, Shin stood tall with teary eyes and an afro-like hair due to the unstable electrical explosion. He controlled his frustration and tried to mask it with a smile. Samarra couldn't contain her laughter at her friend's expression and appearance. She bends over, tears spilling at her eyes from the force of her joy. "You definitely did something there Shin!" She says composing herself in front of him. "Well looks like you have a good handle on the flow of ethernano down, but your incantations and release was a bit off. My dad always said you have to put your whole heart into a spell and it would hold fast and true. That our magic comes from our heart and soul, so if we have something we love and want to protect, our magic will make it so." She said as she glances down and her palm, clenching it into a fist. "Is there something you love and want to protect friend? Errr... I'm sorry if that is too personal." "I do!" he exclaimed with the giving the center of the ceramic target a serious glare. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, assuming a stance and charged his lightning-magic once again, forming a concentrated bolt of electricity around his hand and then thrusting his hand towards the target released a concentrated beam of lighting with great concussive force behind it, as he yelled, "Ha!" This time, to his surprise, the beam of lightning actually hit the ceramic target though it was about an inch off from hitting the middle of the ceramic. After five seconds of continuous emission the beam disappeared and Shin started smiling. "I guess the wish to protect is not the only emotion one needs to use magic. I knew it would work, yipee!" he replied to Samarra as he jumped out of excitement. "Next time, I'll do better. I'll hit the center of the target... no, I'll hit all of the targets with perfect accuracy!" "I sure hope so! You'll never hit a moving target with that kind of aim!" Samarra says giving a light punch on Shin's shoulder, She may have not known him all that long but she feels as if their spirits are that of brother and sister. This newfound friendship continues to be forged throughout the hours of dusk over the practice of magic. -- Meanwhile back inside the Inari Family residence, the two adults are having a rather heavy discussion. There was no tension lingering in the room, but there was an air of sadness and confusion. Aldrich was rubbing his hands together in a nervous tick as he explained the situation to his wife as to how he managed to come home with a boy after his mission. "So you see Belinda? There was nothing I could do.. I was useless in the fact that I couldn't save them, there was no way I would sentence their son to the same fate.. His parents trusted me and named me the legal guardian, I couldn't refuse that. That aside, my boss instructed me to end my service of BCO... But I promise love, now I will be able to stay here with you and actually be a good leader to this family. I just don't know what to do with the boy..." Aldrich ran his fingers through his hair, rubbing his head as if it would help straighten out the thoughts in his head. Belinda, who had already put their youngest down for her nap, comes the sit by her husband; stroking his arm up and down in comfort. She lets out a little laugh as she speaks in a calm collective manner. "I must say I am a bit surprised to have seen you walking in with an unfamiliar boy, I will admit I got a little worried and thought to myself, 'Surely he couldn't have been gone that long!' But that was just my jealousy running away with me." Her laugh rings out like the gentle sound of wind chimes in the breeze. "I know a man of your kind, faithful demeanor would never do such a thing though. And that holds true for the boy. You had no reason to be scared for what the family would think, as once you explained what situation the boy was coming from,, all the pieces settled into place." She places her hand on Aldrich's cheek to turn his head towards her gaze. "Your thoughts are racing away years into the future, don't you think we should focus on the now, and decide how to best protect this boy?" Trivia * House of the Rising Son is a pun on The House of the Rising Sun; a traditional folk song. * This story takes place in the year X782. * It is ironic how in the year X800, Shin owns a considerable number of gadgets, weapons and robots. Category:Roleplay